


Just Lance

by AceStuckInSpace



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, dont know if ill continue it, just kinda angst, sorta slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-27
Updated: 2016-09-27
Packaged: 2018-08-18 03:29:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8147650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceStuckInSpace/pseuds/AceStuckInSpace
Summary: Lance doesn't sleep well after a battle and gets annoyed at himself





	

It was late, probably. Time in space was more of a concept, but Lance was adjusted. He had a schedule, after a while it felt late and his brain would begin to slow. The Paladins were flying back to the castle, after a long battle, facing mostly minor injuries nothing a few tics in a healing pod or a good nights sleep couldn't fix except for Keith. It wasn't anything life threatening, just a sprained wrist. Lance recalled the memory in his head, the two of them were sent inside a Galra ship. At some point while traversing a hall they were surrounded, Lance turned to take out the Galra soldiers on their tails, but he wasn't quick enough. One had shot past Lance and hit the bayard in Keith's hand, knocking it loose of his grip, the sudden shift battering up his wrist. Their mission was a success, yet Lance felt no joy. He was the one who left Keith unguarded, he was the one who wasn't in time to protect him, he was the one too slow to save him, he was the one who sprained Keith's wrist. But like hell he was going to let on his disappointment. He let his emotional guard down once and Coran almost died, he was determined to keep that from happening to anyone ever again. 

His thoughts were interrupted by the voice of reason over the coms, "good work team, there's another planet as a part of the Voltron alliance, and barely a scratch on us." Lance could hear Shiro's smile,  _he's like a proud parent or something_ , Lance thought. He could feel the corners of his mouth twitch upward. 

"Most of us," Keith muttered.  _Of course_ , he thought,  _no reason to be happy you screw up._  Lance tightened his grip on Blue's control, but couldn't bring himself to speak. Usually Lance would snap back or begin to bicker, but for once Keith was able to leave him speechless even if he didn't intend too. The group flew back to the castle in dead silence. No one knew what to say, Lance was the talker in the group but he wasn't in the mood to talk, and he didn't have the energy to cover up his emotions so silence was his best option. Upon their arrival everyone took their turn being inspected for injuries. Keith had insisted he was ok and was let go from the group and the team disbanded. Despite his physical exhaustion, Lance found himself incapable of sleep. He slipped into his normal clothes and headed out, no goal in mind as he aimlessly wandered the castle halls. He found himself looking into the training room from the smaller room above and as expected Keith bolted around fighting the individual robots as he summoned them. 

"Of course the only one up is you, your a flipping insomniac and all you do is train," Lance spoke to no one, yet addressing his friend down below. He slunk down into a chair and leaned forward resting his head in his hands observing the red Paladins combat, "I can see you wincing you idiot. Why do you do this to yourself it's stupid and your making it worse." He sighed to himself as he watched, soon to zone out and staring into space, drowning in his own thoughts, oblivious to the red paladin below him leaving. Keith trained as hard as he normally would, and to anyone else Keith appeared fine but Lance knew better. He and Hunk did boy scouts back on earth, Hunk was better with arts and crafts and Lance mostly worked with first aid and he knew a sprained wrist when he saw one. Lance swiveled around, leaving his back to the training room. "He wouldn't have this problem if you weren't so slow," he began to scold himself. His head slumped down and he stared at the floor, "you should be the one with the messed up wrist. And instead of accepting your mistakes you just  **have**  to take it all out on him, don't you? You fuck up his wrist and start shit constantly." His temper began to flare up and he balled his hands into fist. Lance slammed his fists into his thighs, "why was it me." His body began to shake, "why am I the blue paladin. Why couldn't it have been someone actually able to do something. But no, instead we're the saviors of the universe and  _Lance."_ He spat his own name in disgust. 

"Lance?"  _Shit_ , Lance thought. He slowly lifted his head.  _Of course it had to be **fucking Keith**._  Lance released his fists. He saw Keith standing in the doorway, eyes wide staring through Lance. He wore his same training outfit drenched in sweat, he had come directly from the training room below. 

Lance forced the best smile possible as he gathered the strength to speak back in his most exaggerated tone possible, "oh hey Keith how long have you been there," he spoke a mile a minute gesturing wildly, "no matter what is too long." Lance began to rise from his spot and stroll towards the exit slinking beside Keith, "am I in your way? I'm in your way. I'll just be out of your hair. See ya!" He took a few lanky strides down the hallway until he was hopefully out of sight before breaking into a full sprint. 

He could hear the faint echo of a voice calling out from behind him, "Lance wait!" He refused. Lance wouldn't look back, he wouldn't go back. In fact he planned to never talk to Keith again.  _Scratch that last one_. He ran and ran until he reached the observation deck, a full empty room with a glass wall facing the universe. Lance stared out at the vast emptiness of space. He staggered forwards until he reached a set of three steps and he plopped down onto the floor, resting his legs on the bottom of the stairs. He gazed outside, letting his mind clear itself. The void of space used to spark his interest, it used to give him a sense of adventure back on earth. Now the colors he saw brought peace, just knowing the fact that there's still something out there to save, and his family would still be there waiting. Lance could feel his mind begin to fuzz, and breathing begin to shift. He took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes.  _Calm down Lance, your okay. Your smooth. Your the cool guy. Your the one everyone wants to shut up. Your the joker. You are fine. I'm fine._  


"Lance!" A familiar voice yelled, followed by heavy panting. 

  
_**I AM NOT FINE**_ , his mind went ballistic. He immediately whipped his head around. There Keith stood hunched over panting, hands gripping his knees. His dark hair dangled freely in front of his face, looking greasy and tangled. Lance quickly turned back to the glass and groaned, "what do you want?" It sounded more of an annoyed statement instead of a question. He had given up the facade, he had given up the happiness. His depression took hold of him, and dragged him into hell. 

"What's wrong with you?" The echo of footsteps rang through Lance's ears as Keith made his way to the steps. He bent down and took a spot next to Lance and looked over. Lance's gaze didn't shift from the floor as he sat and listened. "First on the way back you stay silent. Your never quiet. I've always wished you would shut up, but the fly home just felt wrong." Keith shifted his head to stare farther upward into space, "then earlier I heard you say you should be the one with the sprained wrist. So what is your deal?" 

Lance could feel tears begin to well up in the corner of his eyes and he growled, "well it sounds like you heard 'my deal' so what are you here for. I hate you and you hate me so  _why?_ " 

"I don't hate you," he sighed, "never have, never will. You hate me but I never knew why."

"Your an idiot," he muttered. Lance felt anger burn in his chest, "I don't hate you! Your just too..Keith!! Your instincts can cover everything, your a better pilot, your a better everything! I'm just stupid Lance who probably shouldn't even be here. It's not like I'm any help out here your all safe yourselves." He finally looked up staring at Keith, letting the dam break loose. Lance took all the emotion he'd been hiding and let loose as he stared through Keith, "I'm in space while my entire family thinks I'm dead! I disappeared one day from the Garrison and my family was probably told I ran away and they'll all just assume I'm fucking dead! I'm just out here on the opposite side of the universe being worthless, I can't even stop one Galra soldier from shooting and you payed for it!" Lance felt the tears stream down his face, he attempted to stop, he tried so hard he would've given anything to stop the tears from flowing, instead he let out a slight whimper and retreated into the inside of his jacket. "God why am I saying all this it's not like you care."

Keith sat there dumbstruck for a moment. It was only a few seconds that Keith just stared, before he wrapped Lance in a tight hug. Lances eyes went wide as Keith spoke shakily, "Now your the one being stupid." Keith buried his head into Lance's shoulder. Lance tensed at the sudden contact, his arms glued to his sides by Keith's arms. "Of course I care you idiot, I've always cared and

I didn't give a shit if you hated me, and I'm not letting you go on like this. Your not  _just Lance_ , your the one we all rely on to keep spirits up," Lance could feel his jacket begin to dampen. Keith was...crying?  _I never thought he actually cared. I was always just a pest, but.._. "Your the one who always argued with me and shoots back dumb insults. You were the first one who flew a magical robot cat from space and flew like you'd been flying your whole life so don't you even try and say your  _just Lance._ " Keith clawed in Lance's jacket as Keith pushed himself deeper into Lance's shoulder. "So what if I'm hurt, it's not like I went into a fucking coma to save someone, then awoke from said coma to help my friends," Keith tightened his grip until his fists were clamped shut on the jacket. "your not just Lance, you may be sarcastic, annoying, stupid, and I could go on for hours, but your not a screw up, and honestly," he finally released Lance, leaning back upward to face Lance. Keith smiled warmly, his cheeks glistening with tears, "I wouldn't have you any other way."  


  
Lance sat in shock, tears began to drip down his tanned cheek. He couldn't help but smile with his last bit of willpower. He let out a weak laugh, "heh, never knew you actually cared. Good to know my charm has worked on someone." His smile was weak and small, but still genuine. Keith gave him a slanted grin and lightly punched Lance in the shoulder. The two giggled in unison, Lance couldn't tell what made him happier, someone noticing his problems, someone helping him with his problems, or that person being Keith. Keith actually caring was something Lance never imagined could happen, and watching his friend joke around and laugh left Lance with a warm tingling feeling. "Thanks, Keith."  Keith gave him a sideways glance, followed by a shake of his head indicating a 'no.'  


Lance placed his hand over Keith's, and shifted his glance to look out at the beautiful colors of space, but his favorite was the rosy pink rising to Keith's cheeks at the meet touch of his hand. "Everyone on the ship just thinks I'm just loud, obnoxious, and flirty and can't do anything."

"You got the first three right, but no one thinks you can't do anything," he fell backwards lying on his back, "at least I don't."

Lance laughed, "wow this is the strangest situation I've ever been in." He leaned back, collapsing on the floor, his hand still overlapping Keith's. "If you had told me five years ago all that we've been through, the strangest by far would be this moment. Me, sitting here, crying and laughing while hand in hand with  _fucking Keith._ " He sat back up and let out a quick chuckle, and placed his free hand over the back of his neck as heat rose to his cheeks, "and honestly it's probably my favorite." Lance finally took a second to actually grasp the situation. He felt warmth against his hand, and a slight drop of water. He saw Keith fast asleep, lying down, turned on his side, head lying over Lance's hand. A single drop of drool had slipped from Keith's mouth. "Man I hope you didn't hear any of that," he said, face growing hotter and hotter as he stared at his sleeping friend. "Never knew you looked so cute," he said without thinking.  The moment just felt nice. Lance had been through so much internal pain for as long as he could remember. The pain of never being the best. The pain of being just a cargo pilot. The pain of barely making it into the Garrison. Even after getting into space, his suffering didn't go away. He still wasn't better than Keith. He wasn't the best the team had to offer. He wasn't really good at anything just sort of mediocre. He was the reason everyone groaned. He was the annoyance. He was always just Lance. The corners of his mouth began to turn up as he admired his sleeping friend. "Maybe there's nothing wrong with being just Lance," Lance reached out with his free and brushed back a strand of Keith's hair which had been covering his eye. "You cared enough to actually chase after me," he paused, letting a single tear slip from his eye this time not of sadness but out of gratitude, "so I guess I can't be that bad."

~~~~~

Keith awoke slowly, feeling a soft mattress beneath him. He groaned in confusion.  _Wasn't I talking to..?_  A wave of panic crashed into Keith's mind and he frantically scanned the room. He sighed, good it's my room.  _Did I fall asleep while talking to Lance?_  Hair began to fall in front of his face, so he reached up to wipe it and saw strands of bandages wrapped around his wrist. Questions began racing through his thoughts.  _What did I do last night? Why is my hand like this? Why did I fall asleep? Didn't I fall asleep next to..._ He paused, memories flooding back to him. He heard the echo of Lance's voice ring through his head, Lance had spilled everything. Lance had been crying. Keith had been crying. Keith could feel the moment return, piece by piece. Some of the puzzle was incomplete, but he could still see the big picture. He groaned and swung his legs around to the edge of his bed. He grumbled to himself, "I told him everything..." He spotted a piece of paper attached to the wall opposite his bed. He pushed to his feet and took a stride for the note. 

Hey mullet brain,

You fell asleep while we were talking so I carried you here. Don't worry I didn't do anything bad. Also I wrapped your hand because you're an idiot. 

-Lance

He smiled at the note and gently placed it down on the desk. "Well," he paused, cheeks turning pink, " _almost_  everything."  

**Author's Note:**

> So, don't know if ill continue this. if people like it, then sure ill write more! 
> 
> If you wanna scream at me on tumblr find ace-wiz!


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